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Within four months of assuming payroll duty for a Reynoldsburg nonprofit company, Wendy M.
Harper began embezzling.

By the time she was caught 40 months later, she’d slipped $588,121 into her bank accounts,
and the company was struggling to pay its bills.

Harper, 44, of the South Side, pleaded guilty today to stealing the money from Harvest
Management Group, which manages 18 properties for needy disabled, elderly residents.

She was charged with one count of theft from federal program funds and one count of filing a
false federal income tax return. She could be sentenced to 13 years in prison and ordered to pay
$500,000 in fines.

Shawn Mincks, a special agent with the Internal Revenue Service, said Harvest Management
receives millions of dollars from the Department of Housing and Urban Development for the
properties, which include more than 900 units. The company had problems maintaining the properties
and paying property taxes because of the theft, he said.

Mincks said Harper enriched herself with unauthorized pay raises and exorbitant mileage
reimbursements. Investigators found that Harper would have had to drive 1.2 million miles in 40
months for the mileage reimbursements to be legitimate.

A plea agreement Harper signed last May said she didn’t include the embezzled funds on her
income-tax forms, costing the federal government $126,019. The agreement requires her to file
accurate income-tax returns for 2009-2012.

Harper was released on her own recognizance. A sentencing date has not been set.